


Metamorphoses.

by shannonsaid



Category: Bloodbound (Visual Novels), Choices: Witness: A Bodyguard Romance (Visual Novel), The Nanny Affair (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:40:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26708389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shannonsaid/pseuds/shannonsaid
Summary: Set five years in the future; Sam, Robin and Olivia’s lives are a lot different than they had planned or expected. Follow their stories from their past and their present.“The Oneiroi Triplets. The Oneiroi were the immortals who traveled through dreams appearing as certain types of images.”Morpheus (god of dreams) — RobinIcelus (god of nightmares) — SamPhantasos (god of fantastical dreams) — Olivia
Relationships: Marshal Keane/Main Character (Witness: A Bodyguard Romance), Marshal Keane/Olivia Schuyler, Robin Flores/Original Character(s), Sam Dalton/Main Character (The Nanny Affair), Sam Dalton/Olivia Schuyler, Sam Dalton/Sofia Russo
Kudos: 3





	1. Icelus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Companion Pictagrams: 
> 
> [Robin.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644504020826882048/robins-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Emily.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644507794466340864/sams-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Olivia.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644500170492510208/olivias-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Cassian.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644515278765637632/cassians-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Sam.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644507794466340864/sams-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Jenny.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644519031331799040/jennys-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Casey.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644526585877315584/caseys-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Bryce.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644522822847414272/bryces-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)

**NOW**

Sam stood in the never ending line at Starbucks, typing feverishly on his phone. Even after five years of successfully co-heading Dalton-Russo Enterprises with his wife, his father still deemed it necessary to micromanage every single decision. He had half a mind to tell his father to shove it, but knew he never would. Mickey and Mason’s future depended on his complacency in business, as much as it did in his personal life.

A coquettish giggle from behind Sam, pulled his attention away from his phone and he sighed. The sound a mixture of annoyance, jealousy and longing. He didn’t have to turn around to know who had laughed or why, he already knew. The comedian was his brother and his audience was his brothers fiancée, Emily. Ever since the pair had gotten together, it had been nothing but secret giggles and stolen glances, and a love that had Sam’s stomach knotting in sadness and regret.

Sam wanted to hate his brother for choosing love and happiness above all else, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t Robin’s fault that Sam chose to walk down the aisle that day, to profess his love for a woman he hardly liked, and to not chase after the woman he did love. Sam only had himself to blame. He had made a choice that day. Where Robin had chosen love and happiness, Sam had chosen loyalty and legacy.

The overly cheery voice of the Starbucks barista dragged Sam away from his thoughts. Placing his order, he stepped to the side and turned his attention back to his phone, his eyes instantly rolling at his fathers words. Cursing to himself, he slid his phone into his pocket.

Sam had known it would be hard for his father to step away from Dalton Enterprises -- it had been his life’s blood for the entirety of Sam’s life. And yet, he claimed to have handed the reigns over to Sam and Sofia the evening of their wedding, wishing them luck and happiness. Only he hadn’t really let go. Five years later, and he was still questioning every move Sam and Sofia made.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, he shook his spiraling thoughts from his head. Grabbing his drinks from the counter, he moved his way through the crowd and back to his table, sliding into his seat beside Robin.

Robin raised an eyebrow at the look at Sam’s face. “Trouble in paradise?” He asked, a slow smirk lifting his lips.

Sam grumbled, taking a long sip from his coffee. “Dad.”

“Still can’t let go, huh?” Robin commented, his smirk falling from his face.

“Apparently a lifetime preparing me to take over wasn’t long enough.” Sam shrugged sardonically. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to come back?”

Robin laughed, smacking his hand down on Sam’s shoulder. “Fuck no!” He shook his head, laughter still alight in his cerulean eyes. “I love you, but no. Never.”

Sam huffed his brothers hand from his shoulder. “You honestly prefer running Kamilah Sayeed’s Twitter account over everything you had at Dalton Enterprises?”

Robin slung his arm around Emily, pressing a kiss against her temple. “I don’t run Kamilah’s twitter, I run Ahmanet’s Twitter — which happens to be in a loving relationship with the New York Islanders twitter — as well as all their other socials.”

“You’re just a glorified Millennial.” Sam grumbled.

“Don’t blame me for your misery, Sam.” Robin said softly, his voice tipped in venom. “Kamilah gave you an out too, one that would’ve let you live your life - your way, and you didn’t take it.” His fingers traced small circles on Emily’s arm, as he stared down his brother. “Your misery is of your own making.”

Sam’s hand tightened around his coffee cup, hating that Robin was right, and hating himself more.

Kamilah Sayeed had approached Sam, at Robin’s suggestion, with a tempting offer before Italy. Before the impromptu wedding. Before Olivia left. She had offered him the COO position at Ahmanet Financial. She had wanted to take a step back from the limelight and decision making and boardrooms filled with needy and demanding board members.

“I know you have a legacy you think you have to uphold, Samuel.” She had said in her soothing, enchanting voice. “But who says you can’t start your own legacy? Follow your own dreams? Bask in your chosen happiness?”

The offer had been more tempting than Sam would ever admit to himself. It was the opportunity to finally live for himself and his sons and no one else. To be the man he wanted to be, the one Mickey and Mason and _Olivia_ believed he could be.

But fear of the unknown, of disappointing the man he grew up idolizing, of facing his feelings for Olivia head on with nothing standing in their way — had him turning down Kamilah’s offer.

She smiled a serene smile at him, and promised that, if he should ever change his mind, Ahmanet would be honored to have him.

Instead of chasing his dreams and reaching for happiness and love and forging his own destiny, he chose what he knew. He chose complacency, imagined loyalty and the Dalton legacy.

“One day,” Robin’s voice echoed into his thoughts. “You’re going to wake up and find your life filled with nothing but regrets, Sam, and by then, it’ll be too late.”

Before Sam could do more than wave away his brothers advice, a happy gasp from Emily had both brothers turning their attention to her.

Emily grinned, turning her phone to face Robin. “She said ‘ _yes_ ,’ Rob!” She exclaimed, excitement glimmering in her slate blue eyes.

Robin’s mouth dropped open, the same excitement shining in his gaze. “Took him long enough!” He chuckled, shaking his head. “He fights bad guys for a living, you’d think proposing to his lady would be a walk in the park.”

Emily bumped her nose against Robin’s cheek. “Leave him alone. He did it, and she said yes, the end justifies the _extremely_ long wait.”

Robin shrugged, twirling a piece of Emily’s blonde hair around his finger. “I should’ve taken that bet a couple years back. I would’ve won.”

Emily pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Assuming they don’t beat us down the aisle.”

“Touché.” Robin nodded, a smirk lifting one side of his mouth.

Sam cleared his throat, subtlety reminding them he was there. “Who’s getting married?”

The pair shared a pointed look, before glancing at Sam. Emily held her phone out to him, and Sam took it.

The photo was a close-up of a woman’s hand, with what was clearly an engagement ring centered on her left ring finger. Behind her hand, was a sky splashed in the purples and blues and pinks of a sunset, and the shadowed figures of a man and a woman kissing. The caption read: **C.Keane** : She said yes! #TwoKeaneOnLove #luckiestmanalive #myforeverstartsnow #ihatehashtags

Sam smiled at the photo and the happiness that radiated from it, until he read the first few comments, and his smile fell from his lips.

**ollieollieoxenfree** : how long did it take you to come up with that hashtag? #TwoKeaneOnLove

**ollieollieoxenfree** : what would you have done if I said no? #OneKeaneNotInLove

**ollieollieoxenfree** : thanks for choosing me, and letting me choose you. I love you.

Olivia was engaged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A thanks to infinity and beyond to Emily for reading this in its infancy, and helping me bring it to fruition. Without you, I doubt this fic would even exist (and Robin would definitely not be hopelessly in love, so he thanks you too!).


	2. Morpheus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Companion Pictagrams: 
> 
> [Robin.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644504020826882048/robins-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Emily.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644507794466340864/sams-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Olivia.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644500170492510208/olivias-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Cassian.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644515278765637632/cassians-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Sam.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644507794466340864/sams-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Jenny.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644519031331799040/jennys-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Casey.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644526585877315584/caseys-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)   
>  [Bryce.](https://shannonwrote.tumblr.com/post/644522822847414272/bryces-pictagram-page-a-companion-piece-to)

**THEN**

Robin paced the length of his living room, nervously biting at his cuticles. His thoughts, a hurricane of hope and fear, thundering in his mind. “I can’t do this.”

“Then don’t.” Olivia said from her spot in his oversized chair, not bothering to look up from the book she was reading.

He paused in his pacing, and turned to face her. “What?”

Olivia looked up from her book, her toffee eyes meeting his steel blue ones. “If you don’t think you can do it, don’t.”

His mouth dropped open, as he pointed an accusatory finger at her. “But you said -“

“I know what I said.” She rolled her eyes. “But if you’re too chicken..” She shrugged.

“Don’t!” Robin stated with a shake of his head.

“Don’t, what?” She asked feigning innocence.

“You know exactly what you’re doing, Olivia.” He shook his head again. “And it’s not going to work.”

Olivia set her book down on the table in front her. Resting her chin on her clasped hands, she stared intently at Robin. “What do you want?”

“It’s not that simple.” He huffed out.

“No,” she agreed. “But it can be. You told me once that Dalton Enterprises was your legacy — yours and Sam’s — but you also told me it never really felt like it belonged to you.”

“It didn’t.” He replied, beginning to pace again. “It doesn’t.”

“Why?”

Robin ran his hands through his hair, causing the ends to stick up every which way. “I’m not a Dalton. Not really. Yes, the Dalton’s took me in, and raised and loved me, in their own way, but the Dalton name never really belonged to me. That’s why I went to Tulane instead of Rutgers, and interned at Ahmanet Financial instead of Dalton Enterprises.”

Olivia nodded in acknowledgement. “Then how’d you end up working for your dad?”

Biting the inside of his cheek, he walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows and gazed out at the sparkling city below. “When I finished my internship at Ahmanet, Kamilah asked me what my plans were, and I was honest, I told her I didn’t know. I knew what I wanted, and I knew what was expected of me. In the end, it came down to what felt like family obligations.” He gestured at his blurred reflection in the window. “And here we are.”

Olivia stood up from her chair and approached Robin, sliding into the space between him and the windows. Folding her arms across her chest, her whiskey gaze rose to meet the stormy sea of his.

Robin’s mouth went dry, as the scent of lavender and cedarwood clouded his senses. 

“Robin. What do you want?” She repeated her earlier question.

“Olivia.” He rasped, shaking his head, trying desperately to rid his mind of the woman in front of him. 

Sliding her arms from her chest, she placed the palm of her hand against the stubble of his cheek. “Stop choosing for everyone else and choose for yourself.”

His eyes closed at her touch, the simple gesture causing his heart to beat erratically in his chest. Releasing a breath, his eyes met hers. “I hate you.” He commented, fracturing the moment.

Olivia grinned, her hand falling to her side. “No. You don’t.” She winked. “Now begone!” Pressing her hands against his chest, she shoved him toward the door. “And don’t come back here until you’re no longer employed at Dalton Enterprises.”

“Technically,” he said raising an eyebrow, “I don’t work at Dalton Enterprises. I work at Dalton-Russo Enterprises.”

Olivia rolled her eyes, “enough stalling.”

Robin caught her hand in his, a soft smile on this face. “Thanks, Olivia.”

She returned his smile with one of her own. “You’re welcome.”

— - — - —

“Trouble with the missus?”

The bartenders scratchy voice rolled over Robin, pulling his thoughts from the depths of his whiskey. “Hmm?”

“That’s the 5th whiskey you’ve tried to find answers in, and your phone’s been vibrating across my counter for the last 15 minutes.” He nodded at the empty seat beside Robin. “Add in the fact that Olivia isn’t in that seat beside you... let’s just say, it’s doesn’t take a genius to recognize lady troubles, my friend.”

“What? I mean — we’re not. It’s not — we’re just friends, Drew.” Robin tumbled through his words.

Drew’s eyebrows rose and disappeared into his salt and pepper waves. “And the whiskey? And the fact that you keep ignoring her calls?” He shot Robin a knowing glance. “I’ve been around the block a few times, kid. The only one you’re fooling is yourself.”

Before Robin could come up with another excuse, his phone vibrated again, Olivia’s name lighting up the screen.

Robin lifted his whiskey to his lips and downed the remaining liquid. Nodding his thanks to Drew as he refilled his glass, he swiped his finger across his phone.

_“Olivia.” Robin answered._

_“Oh good. You’re alive.” Olivia replied flatly._

_“Because you anticipated I would not be?”_

_“I did think there was a chance you and your brother might kill each other respectively.” Robin could feel her shrug through the phone. “But when I didn’t see anything on the news, I just assumed Sam killed you and Sofia helped him hide your body.”_

_“Nope. Not dead.” Robin offered, in a voice that didn’t sound anything like his own._

_There was a breath of silence, “you’re being weird.”_

_Robin swallowed his whiskey, tapping his knuckles on the bar for another refill. “I’m not.”_

_Olivia sighed, the sound almost sad. “Robin...”_

_Pinching the bridge of his nose, he exhaled a breath, the sound loud in his own ears. “Olivia, just -“_

_“Robin, what the fuck is going on? Where are you?”_

_His shoulders slumped. He had spent that last two hours trying to chase the memory of lavender and cedarwood from his senses, but at the sound of her voice, everything came rushing back — the thrum his body always felt at her nearness, the gentleness of her touch, the feelings he had been trying to ignore since the day they met._

_Closing his eyes in defeat — knowing he wanted to see her much more than he didn’t — he replied, “The Stockyard.”_

Drew refilled his glass with a wink, as Robin disconnected his call. “Don’t start, old man.”

Chortling, Drew put his hands up in surrender and disappeared to the other end of the bar.

He sensed Olivia’s arrival the moment she stepped into the bar. His nerve endings suddenly felt electrified, pricking against his skin, begging to be free and to be closer to her. His heart, a steady thump in his chest, matched the pattern of her footsteps. Since the first day they had met, before they had even been properly introduced, his existence seemed to be attuned to hers. It was a feeling he had hated when she was off chasing his brother, now it was something else entirely. 

He pulled a hand down his face, fingers scrapping through his beard, as Olivia claimed the empty stool beside him. He felt the wave of her emotions flow over him, lining his veins with her unspoken questions, as she remained silent, stealing glances at him from the corner of her cognac gaze.

Drew appeared, unprompted, and set an Old Fashioned in front of Olivia. He raised his eyebrows in Robin’s direction, and Olivia shrugged in response.

“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to start, old man.” Robin reminded him, rolling his half empty glass between his hands.

Drew’s lips twitched as he tried to suppress his grin. “Right, sorry.” He said, winking at Olivia.

Scowling at Drew’s retreating form, Robin continued rolling his glass between his hands, ignoring the weighted silence that hung between them.

Robin felt Olivia’s inhale, his lungs filling with the same air.

“You’re being weird.” She said softly, her voice echoing through his chest. “Why? What’s going, Robin?”

He released the breath he had been holding since the scent of lavender and cedarwood consumed him, the sound loud and staticky to his ears, but he remained silent.

Olivia turned in her stool to face Robin, resting her hand on the crook of his arm. “You know I don’t care if you actually quit, right?”

Robin’s glass paused, his breath hitching at the contact. His stormy gaze traveled to the press of her hand on his arm. “I did quit.” He answered, finally, his voice scratchy.

“Then what’s going on?” She pressed, squeezing his arm gently. “We should be celebrating! Not doing whatever this is.”

He lifted his eyes to hers, her eyes the color of champagne in the lowlight of the bar. “Didn’t you hear me? I said I quit.” He emphasized.

Her gaze sparkled with confusion, like the bubbles in champagne. “I feel like I’m missing something.” The hand that wasn’t resting on his arm, found a home against the back of his neck, fingernails scratching against the bottom of his skull. “I thought this was what you wanted.”

His head clouded with her nearness, his nerve endings sparking in their desperation to be closer. He silently cursed the amber liquid mixing with his blood, bringing all the things he normally kept bogged down straight to the surface. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing from the effort. “It is.”

Olivia sighed, her breath fanning over his face, a mixture of mint and whiskey and the sweetness of cherries. “Robin.” His name was a question and a demand all mixed into one.

The answer to her question rested on his tongue and poisoned his heart. He wet his lips, the taste of whiskey ever present. “I quit working for Sam, so you’re going to leave.”

Her hand stilled against his skull, her touch against his arm lessened, and a thousand different emotions flittered across her features, settling somewhere between hurt, anger and disbelief. “Robin, I’m -“

“Don’t.” He interrupted. He swallowed down the last dregs of his whiskey. “Everyone always leaves. I knew you wouldn’t be the exception. I just - “ His words caught on the lump forming in his throat. “ - I just wanted you to be.” He pulled himself away from her, the slight distance feeling like lifetimes.

“Robin,” Olivia tried again.

He stood up abruptly, setting a handful of bills on the bar counter. “I’ll just - “ He shook his head. “You were supposed to be the exception.” He ached to touch her, to beg her to stay, but he didn’t — he couldn’t, instead he left her sitting at the bar staring after him.

The walk from The Stockyard to his apartment took no time and all the time in the world. He had always known Olivia had remained in his life as a way to keep the door between her and Sam open. He had been a fool to allow himself to think otherwise, to hope their connection meant more.

The moonlight streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows cast shadows throughout his apartment, lighting some corners and darkening others.

Robin tossed his suit jacket onto the couch, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. Placing his forearm against the cool glass of the window, he rested his head against it, staring down at the twinkling lights of the city below.

A short while later, the hairs on the back of Robin’s neck prickled, causing his heart to go into overdrive, and just like at the bar — and every other time she entered a room — he knew Olivia was in the room.

He squeezed his eyes shut, his fingers flexing at his sides. “What’re you doing here, Olivia?”

“I live here.” She replied, her voice echoing around the silent apartment.

Robin inhaled sharply, the simple reminder causing a rift to open in his heart. Of course she had only came back for her stuff. “I could’ve hired someone to pack your things up and deliver them to you.”

“Why would someone need to pack my things? Are you kicking me out?”

Robin’s eyes flew open at her question, her accusation. “N - no, of course not, I just assumed - “ His words caught in his throat, as for the third time that day, the scent of lavender and cedarwood overtook him.

Olivia again slid into the space between Robin and the windows, causing Robin to adjust his forearm, so it now rested just above her head.

“I’m not leaving.” Her words were a puff of air against Robin’s lips. “I’m here because you’re Robin, and I’m Olivia, and that’s the only reason.”

Robin swallowed. “But what about Sam?”

“Why am I here, Robin?” Her eyes like crystallized toffee. “Is it because I’m something Sam can no longer have?”

“What?! No. Never.” He shook his head. “But - “

“You’re Robin.” She said, placing her hand against his erratically beating heart. “I’m Olivia.” She placed her other hand against her own heart. “And we’re the exception.”

Robin felt like he was on fire as he surged forward and crashed his lips against hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, as always, to the amazing and magnificent Emily (even though she’s probably disappointed at the lack of *smut*). Without her, I never would’ve finished this chapter.


End file.
